"Defensively, we really came up big tonight," Greenwich coach Rich Albonizio said. "It was the same as last year when we made some key plays."

Playing without senior quarterback Liam O'Neil, who broke his finger last Saturday in practice, the Cardinals reached the red zone throughout. Senior Alex McMurray opened the game running the Wildcat, but junior Jose Melo took most of the snaps from center.

Melo's 70-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joe Kelly 3:16 into the first quarter gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead, an advantage they wouldn't relinquish. When Melo connected with Kelly, the senior found himself wide open at midfield before sprinting to the end zone.

"I was excited because I knew we were going to run that play all week in practice," said Melo, who completed 11-of-18 passes for 246 yards. "The credit goes to the offensive line, which did a great job all game and our receivers, who made plays."

McMurray's run off a sweep to the left from three yards out, followed by Jesse Adelberg's extra point, put Ridgefield in a 14-0 hole with :58.3 to go in the first quarter.

Trailing 17-0, the Tigers got on the scoreboard on Rowe's 30-yard touchdown pass to senior Sam Gravitte with 2:24 left in the first half. That's all the Tigers would manage against Greenwich's defense. Junior defensive tackle Jack Wynne stooped a Ridgefield drive by sacking Rowe on fourth down on the Cardinals 29. Senior strong safety Taylor Olmstead intercepted Rowe in the end zone in the third quarter. Olmstead and Austin Longi flourished in pass coverage thoughout, while seniors Dan Claroni and Bernstein helped slow down Gravitte and Will Bonaparte out of the backfield.

"Last year it was a defensive battle and this year it went the same way," Olmstead said. "We worked so hard in practice because we knew this was such an important game for us. We needed this for FCIACs and states."

Ridgefield coach Kevin Callahan left the game impressed with the Cardinals' defensive effort.

"They did a good job of pressuring Connor," Callahan said. "I thought we started out slow, then settled down and got into a rhythm offensively. We just didn't play well enough early on."

Adelberg kicked two field goals for GHS, which was led on the ground by Bernstein, McMurray and Claroni.